Chapter Nineteen: The Elves of Mirkwood
Notes: Hope everyone who celebrates Christmas had a nice day yesterday! Anyone else eat like a hobbit on Christmas? lol
The dwarves were marched to the entrance of a large, stone castle. From a distance it easily meshed into its surroundings, but as I got closer I could see the distinctly elvish carvings in the stone and wood. As they got filed through the gates, the blonde elf that was interrogating Thorin earlier stayed behind and scanned the forest line. I was nervous for a second that he had somehow spotted me, but I just had to trust myself and not hesitate.
The elf turned away from me and headed inside and I had to be right on his tail in order to make it into the building before the heavy doors were closed and locked.
The inside of the structure was beyond my imagination of what it could have looked like. As much as Rivendell was amongst the roaring rivers, this place was among the trees. Bridges were made from stone but looked like they were made of long tree roots. The ceilings were incredibly tall and the arches were made from more stone, tree roots, and moss.
I tried not to fall behind as I gawked at the surroundings since I needed to stay caught up with the others. Thorin was taken from the rest of the company though. I assumed that the others were being taken to the dungeons, so I followed Thorin and the elves that surrounded him to make sure I could assist while he was outnumbered.
I soon saw that they had taken Thorin separately because it was a meeting of the leaders. Thorin was guided to the throne of the most pristine looking being I had ever seen, elf or not. He was a tall creature with bright, serious eyes and practically white hair. His crown was made of branches that could be found among the trees, but was put together so intricately that it made him look incredibly elite. He stood there, expecting his arrival.
"Some may imagine that a noble quest is at hand. A quest to reclaim a homeland and slay a dragon. I myself suspect a more prosaic motive: attempted burglary, or something of that ilk." He wandered into Thorin's view and stood well within his personal space. "You have found a way in. You seek that which would bestow upon you the right to rule: The King's Jewel. The Arkenstone. It is known to be precious to you and your people beyond measure. I understand that there are gems in the mountain that I too desire and wish to possess again. White gems of pure starlight. With that, I offer you my help but with conditions."
Thorin was quiet for a moment then said, "I am listening."
"I will let you go but you must return what is mine."
"A favor for a favor."
"You have my word. One king to another."
Thorin turned away from him, as if to contemplate the idea of it but I knew from the look on his face that his insides were boiling. I wish I could have jumped him, calmed him down to really think about what he was offering, but it was already too late.
"I would not trust Thranduil, the so-called 'great king', to honor his word, should the end of all days be upon us!" He turned back to him, absolutely furious. "You lack all honor! I have seen how you treat your supposed friends and allies! We came to you once, starving, homeless, seeking nothing but your help, but you turned your back on us. You turned away from the suffering of my people and the inferno that destroyed us!"
"Do not speak to me of dragon fire. I know its wrath and ruin." Thranduil's face contorted, revealing deep burns and severe scars and decay on his once perfect face. I took a step back but Thorin didn't even flinch. It just as quickly returned to normal. "I have faced the great serpents of the north, I remind you. I warned your grandfather of what his greed would summon, but he would not listen. You appear to be just like him."
"You speak as if I would take that as an insult. I warn you now not to speak ill of my dead, Thranduil." The guards were called in to seize him again and escort him to the dungeons with the other. He thrashed against them as they dragged him away from the elf king. "I would not help you in a hundred years!"
"Stay here if you will, and rot. A hundred years is a mere blink in the life of an elf. I am patient. I can wait."
As Thorin was hauled away I could hear him muttering in Khuzdul, his native dwarvish language. I had learned over our travels that he only really returns to speaking in Khuzdul when very angry or wanting to make a joke I wouldn't understand.
I followed him and elvish guards down to the dungeons where the others were also being kept. I was reassured to see everyone was still there in one piece, when I was sure at least one of them would have gotten in big trouble with one of the elves. I sat down in front of Thorin's cell to contemplate my next move.
Balin, who was in the cell right next to Thorin's, pressed himself to the bars and asked, "Did he offer you a deal?"
Thorin responded to him in Khuzdul again, still fuming and bristling from the conversation with Thranduil.
Balin sighed and shook his head in disappointment. "Thorin, how are we going to make it to the mountain in time if we're stuck here in these cells? Please reconsider making the deal with the king, please!"
"Never. I will never sell my dignity away to that snake, Balin. You know why I feel the way I do about those damned elves! I don't care if he only wanted one single piece of gold from the hoard, I would rather rot in this cell than give him that satisfaction."
"Well, that's that then. The deal was our only hope."
"Not our only hope. Lydia is still out there."
My heart lifted and I looked at Thorin.
"That's a lovely thought Thorin, but you saw how heavily guarded this place is," Balin explained. "I have been just as surprised by Lydia on this journey as the next person, but you saw how monitored and how huge this place is. She's but a tiny thing and we don't even know if she made it away from the spiders."
He shook his head decisively and leaned against the wall of his prison. "I'm done doubting Lydia. I know she's still out there somewhere and I know she's planning how to help us break out of here as we speak."
I wanted to take off the ring there right then so I could reassure him I was alive and doing exactly what he thought, but I decided against it. I needed to be able to roam freely through this place and I knew him and everyone else would be worried about me if they truly knew I was there with them. Not to mention they could certainly slow me down by trying to tell me what to do and where to go. I knew none of them actually knew their way around Mirkwood so I didn't need the extra noise. Plus, I figured the surprise later once I got them out was too good for me to give up.
I still enjoyed being the only person who knew about the ring as well. It was like it was a special power only I had and I could use only when absolutely necessary. Things are less complicated on that front if they didn't know about it. The dwarves would want to use and abuse it, and I just had a feeling that it was best for that not to happen.
I left the dungeons behind, trying my best to remember the routes I took to get there, but I set out to explore the rest of the place to try and calculate some sort of plan. To release them and have a large enough window to also get everyone to escape would be a task. Finding a way to get out without being noticed, would be a challenge.
Achieving both as soon as possible would be a miracle.
I wandered around the realm for what felt like forever, but was hopefully only a single night. I learned a lot during that time. I learned when the guards went on their routes through the dungeons, and unfortunately it was every half an hour. I also learned more about the elves and their celebrations of light. Apparently the forest elves especially have an affinity for moon light and there was some sort of celebration that everyone partook in. I had a sliver of hope knowing that the dungeons would be unmanned for most of the day. I also learned about elvish wine, or more so about their barrels. Their empty barrels were sent down the river to a human village.
I was wandering down in the wine cellar when I heard them talking.
"These empty barrels should have been sent back to Esgaroth hours ago. The bargeman will be waiting for them."
An elf that wavered on his feet approached him with a warm, dumb looking expression. "Say what you like about our ill tempered king but he has excellent taste in wine. Come, Elros, try it. It is quite exquisite."
"I have the dwarves in my charge."
"They're locked up, where can they go?"
The one named Elros hesitated but broke into a greedy grin. "You're a bad influence my friend." He tossed the keys over to the keyring right in front of me and my jaw dropped.
I eased the keys off the hook and tucked it into my cape so it disappeared with the rest of me. I might have just gotten my opportunity I was looking for so I needed to take it.
I scurried back to the dungeons where most of the dwarves were still sleeping. I kept my feet as soft and silent as possible, not wanting to screw up everything when I was this close to releasing everyone from their cages.
Of course I knew who I was wanting to release first. I tiptoed up to Thorin's cell and peaked in. He was sitting on the ground staring at the wall, and of course he was awake. I was going to enjoy this moment.
I moved out of sight and slipped the ring off. It felt weird fading back into existence. I shuddered and blinked at the color and solid textures around me. I had gotten so used to wearing the ring, I think I had used it for too long…
I went back in front of the cell door and dangled the key ring at the end of my finger. "I think I'm better at this burglar thing than I expected."
His head spun around and his eyes grew. "Lydia!" He jumped up to his feet and hurried over to the door.
"Hold on, hold on. Let me get you out first before you shower me with praise." I unlocked the door and swung it open, and I was planning on making another smug comment but he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tight.
"How the hell did you even get here?"
I put my arms around him and closed my eyes. "I know how to make myself disappear when I need to."
"Are you unharmed?"
"I'm totally fine, how about you?"
"I'm so relieved to see you, nothing else could possibly matter." He leaned back and took my face into his hands before kissing me. This little reunion was so much better than I could have ever imagined. "You endlessly amaze me, Lydia Barclay."
I didn't think there was anything in the entire world that would have pulled me away from that moment, but I knew our window to escape was extremely narrow. I leaned away from him and stared up into his face, using every ounce of self control to stop.
"We need to get out of here before the guard comes back. Promise to continue this later?" I whispered.
He nodded and gave me another quick kiss. "Later."
My heart thumped against my chest as I rushed around the dungeon, waking up the dwarves and releasing them from their prison cells. Every single one of them was dumbstruck to see me unlocking their doors which only gave me more satisfaction. They all filled out and looked among each other to see what to do next. Without even telling them they knew that we were under a time crunch. I had to remind them to be quiet and stay together.
"The stairs! You first!" Dwalin tried to direct.
"No!" I whispered, jerking my head to the stairways down, not up. "Follow me, I know where we need to go."
I led them down to the cellars where the elves from earlier were fast asleep and drunk at a near table. If I knew anything about wine, the only thing that would take them out of their slumber was the need to puke or death.
Kili said, "I don't believe it; we're in the cellars!"
Gloin added, "You're supposed to be leading us out, not further in!"
"I've been up and down this entire place five times, just trust me!" I huddled them around the empty barrels that were being prepared to be sent out. "Alright, everyone climb on in!"
Dwalin gawked at me and whispered harshly, "Lass, have you gone mad? They'll find us and kill us!"
"If I tell you they won't, you need to trust me! Please, hurry and climb in before they're after us!" I urged.
Everyone looked to Thorin and he was very decisive. "Listen to her, get in."
They all gave in and crawled into the empty barrels, pushing each other around and probably making the most noise I had ever heard from people who were trying to be quiet. I cringed and kept a look out at the sleeping elves and at the stairs to hear if anyone was coming. I was convinced everyone could hear everything so they were already sending a whole army down to capture us.
"Lydia, what now?" Fili asked.
I inspected to make sure they were all accounted for, then grabbed a hold of a lever. "Hold your breath gentlemen."
"Hold our-?"
I cranked it and the floor tilted, the barrels rolling down into the roaring river below the floor. As they all rolled in, my fears came true and I could hear elves coming down the stairs. Without a moment of hesitation I ran and jumped off the edge of the floor and down into the water below before it was shut on me. I had a second to hold my breath before crashing into the freezing water.
My backpack floated me back to the surface but I thrashed my entire way back up and gasped at how shockingly cold the water was. I threw my hands onto the nearest barrel that happened to be Bofur's and held my head up.
"Well done Miss Barclay," Thorin nodded to me. I nodded back and he released the sides of the cave we were in, moving us all forward. "Let's go!"
We exited the cave channel with a plummet off a small waterfall that nearly made me lose my grip. Hobbits were not well known for being strong swimmers and I was no different. I held onto the barrel for dear life as we headed down the river, knocking into rocks and the edges.
Through the air came the sound of a horn, and we all knew that meant nothing but trouble for us. We spun around, seeing if we were going to be surrounded and ambushed by elves. They were running after us on both sides of the river.
We approached a bridge that went over the river and we heard one of the elves shout, "Shut the gate!"
A metal grate shut as we went under the bridge, trapping us. Thorin shouted and attempted to move it open, but as the barrels crowded underneath and knocked into each other it was difficult for him to move around at all.
I looked up at the elves as they marched across the bridge in their gold armor and drew their swords. My mind went a million miles per hour, trying to figure out what we could possibly do when I was the only one who had weapons.
I didn't get to think long as an arrow flew and killed one of the elvish guards. As the guard fell into the water beside us, orcs climbed up the bridge and joined in on the ambush. The sound of weapons clashing filled the air in moments.
Fili shouted, "Look out! There's some coming!"
It seemed like an entire army came out of the trees and came down on the elves and they brauled each other. The company tried to dodge as bodies were thrown into the river around us while also trying to grab anything to defend themselves.
I pulled out Sting and hacked away at the orcs I could reach. With the splashing in the water it was impossible to see so I was essentially blindly hacking anything that growled or screeched within arms length.
Kili suddenly jumped out of his barrel and onto the side of the river. Dwalin tossed him a sword that had fallen into the river during the fighting. He fought as hard as he could to defend himself and to force his way forward. I saw that he was going for the leaver, the one that would open the gates and release us!
I stabbed an orc in the face and rolled it into the river, using it as leverage to push myself to the shore as well. I pulled myself out of the water and heard Fili shout for his brother in a panic. I searched for him and saw him on the steps with a long, black orc arrow sticking out of his leg. He stumbled and my body shot into action before it could even realize what my plan was. It just recognized he was in a lot of danger and I needed to be the one to get him out of it.
Kili fell to the ground in pain, visibly shaking.
I cut through the orcs in my way and got to him as more elves arrived, fighting the orcs back. "Come on Kili!" I lifted him up onto his feet and he grabbed a hold of the leaver, pulling it down and opening the metal gate. "Let's get out of here!"
"Yes, let's get the hell out," he nodded, trying his best to help me move him but he was obviously in so much agony.
As some of the dwarves went down the waterfall, I put Sting away and hurried him back to the edge of the bridge. Fili helped me ease him back into his barrel as he writhed in pain. He had to fall for the last few feet and when he did the arrow snapped off and he yelped. I felt sick to my stomach at how pale he was getting.
I dodged arrows and flying weapons as I jumped back down into the freezing water, grabbing a hold of Gloin's barrel. My grip would not last long though as we went over the edge of the waterfall which was so much bigger than I was anticipating. My fingers lost the barrel in the fall and I lost all control of where I was going. My hands frantically reached for anything to grab onto in the raging rapids but didn't latch onto anything. I struggled to keep my head above the water as I was thrown around, gasping for any small bit of air I could force into my lungs. My backpack was the only thing keeping me from simply drowning.
I know the fighting continued on both sides of the river as we traveled down, but just my struggle with getting breath was all I could focus on. I coughed and tried to blink the river water out of my eyes but it was no use. Even when I could manage a tiny breath I was still completely discombobulated and blind.
My struggle was sealed when I went running straight into a boulder that knocked my head so hard it made my entire body seize up in shock. I felt the crack all over my body. My body froze over and everything slowly went dark and it got harder and harder to breathe until my vision went hazy then completely black.
The roaring of the river and the fighting around us even slowly melted away.
